High School Summer Reading List

Books on the High School Summer Reading List for Trumbull students.

Updated June 13, 2024
T
Trumbull Library System
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Half of a yellow sun.
Adichie, Chimamanda Ngozi, 1977-
Paper Book
From the award-winning author of "Purple Hibiscus" comes this masterly, haunting new novel, in which Adichie recreates a seminal moment in modern African history: Biafra's impassioned struggle to establish an independent republic in Nigeria during the 1960s.
City of the beasts.
Allende, Isabel
Paper Book
Fifteen-year-old Alexander Cold is about to join his fearless grandmother on the trip of a lifetime. An International Geographic expedition is headed to the dangerous, remote wilds of South America, on a mission to document the legendary Yeti of the Amazon known as the Beast. But there are...
The house of the spirits /
Allende, Isabel
Paper Book
A best seller and critical success all over the world, The House of the Spirits is the magnificent epic of the Trueba family -- their loves, their ambitions, their spiritual quests, their relations with one another, and their participation in the history of their times, a history that becomes...
Beartown. [large print]
Backman, Fredrik, 1981-
Paper Book
Winning a junior ice hockey championship might not mean a lot to the average person, but it means everything to the residents of Beartown, a community slowly being eaten alive by unemployment and the surrounding wilderness. A victory like this would draw national attention to the ailing town: it...
A long way gone : [large print] memoirs of a boy soldier /
Beah, Ishmael, 1980-
Paper Book
This absorbing account by a young man who, as a boy of 12, gets swept up in Sierra Leone's civil war, goes beyond even the best journalistic efforts in revealing the life and mind of a child abducted into the horrors of warfare.
The Paris architect /
Belfoure, Charles,
Paper Book
The New York Timesbestseller "A beautiful and elegant account of an ordinary man's unexpected and reluctant descent into heroism during the second world war." —Malcolm Gladwell A thrilling debut novel of World War II Paris, from an author who's been...
Circle of friends.
Binchy, Maeve
Paper Book
'What better books to raise the spirits than the gentle, insightful Irish tales of Maeve Binchy?'HELLO! Magazine _____________________________________________ TROUBLE IS BREWING FOR THIS CIRCLE OF FRIENDS Generous-hearted Benny Hogan and the elfin...
The Da Vinci code /
Brown, Dan,
Paper Book
#1 WORLDWIDE BESTSELLER * While in Paris, Harvard symbologist Robert Langdon is awakened by a phone call in the dead of the night. The elderly curator of the Louvre has been murdered inside the museum, his body covered in baffling symbols. "Blockbuster perfection.... A...
The boys in the boat : nine Americans and their epic quest for gold at the 1936
Brown, Daniel, 1951-
Paper Book
Now a Major Motion Picture Directed by George Clooney The #1 New York Times-bestselling story about the American Olympic rowing triumph in Nazi Germany--from the author of Facing the Mountain. For readers of Unbroken, out of the depths of the...
The trigger :
Butcher, Tim,
Paper Book
On a summer morning in Sarajevo almost a hundred years ago, a teenager took a pistol out of his pocket and fired not just the opening rounds of the First World War but the starting gun for modern history. By killing Archduke Franz Ferdinand, the heir of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, Gavrilo...
The luminaries.
Catton, Eleanor, 1985-
Paper Book
Winner of the 2013 Man Booker Prize and Governor General's Award for Fiction, and set during the heady days of New Zealand's Gold Rush, The Luminaries is a magnificent novel of love, lust, murder, and greed, in which three unsolved crimes link the fates and fortunes of twelve men...
Everything inside /
Danticat, Edwidge,
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD WINNER OF THE STORY PRIZE WINNER OF THE 2020 VILCEK PRIZE IN LITERATURE From the internationally acclaimed, best-selling author of Brother, I'm Dying, a collection of vividly imagined stories about community,...
The red tent.
Diamant, Anita
Paper Book
Her name is Dinah. In the Bible, her life is only hinted at in a brief and violent detour within the more familiar chapters of the Book of Genesis that are about her father, Jacob, and his dozen sons. Told in Dinah's voice, this novel reveals the traditions and turmoils of ancient womanhood-...
Killers of the Flower Moon :
Grann, David.
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * A twisting, haunting true-life murder mystery about one of the most monstrous crimes in American history, from the author of The Wager and The Lost City of Z, "one of the preeminent adventure and true-crime writers working today."--New...
Homegoing.
Gyasi, Yaa
Paper Book
A PENGUIN BOOK CLUB PICK "Homegoing is an inspiration." --Ta-Nehisi Coates  An unforgettable New York Times bestseller of exceptional scope and sweeping vision that traces the descendants of two sisters across three hundred years in Ghana and...
The curious incident of the dog in the night-time.
Haddon, Mark
Paper Book
A bestselling modern classic--both poignant and funny--narrated by a fifteen year old autistic savant obsessed with Sherlock Holmes, this dazzling novel weaves together an old-fashioned mystery, a contemporary coming-of-age story, and a fascinating excursion into a mind incapable of processing...
An astronaut's guide to life on Earth /
Hadfield, Chris, 1959-
Paper Book
As Commander of the International Space Station, Chris Hadfield captivated the world with stunning photos and commentary from space. Now, in his first book, Chris offers readers extraordinary stories from his life as an astronaut, and shows how to make the impossible a reality.  ...
Human acts.
Han, Kang, 1970-
Paper Book
A riveting, poetic and unrelentingly powerful work from the author of the 2016 Man Booker International Prize-winning novel The Vegetarian.
Unbroken :
Hillenbrand, Laura.
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * The incredible true story of survival and salvation that is the basis for two major motion pictures: Unbroken and Unbroken: Path to Redemption. "Extraordinarily moving . . . a powerfully drawn survival epic."--The Wall Street...
A thousand splendid suns.
Hosseini, Khaled
Paper Book
After more than two years on the bestseller lists and over four million copies in print, Khaled Hosseini returns with a beautiful, riveting, and haunting novel of enormous contemporary relevance. A Thousand Splendid Suns is a breathtaking story set against the volatile events of...
The code breaker :
Isaacson, Walter.
Paper Book
A Best Book of 2021 by Bloomberg BusinessWeek, Time, and The Washington Post The bestselling author of Leonardo da Vinci and Steve Jobs returns with a "compelling" (The Washington Post) account of how Nobel Prize winner Jennifer Doudna...
Klara and the sun.
Ishiguro, Kazuo, 1954-
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER LONGLISTED FOR THE 2021 BOOKER PRIZE NAMED A BEST BOOK OF THE YEAR BY THE NEW YORK TIMES, THE GLOBE AND MAIL, THE GUARDIAN, ESQUIRE, VOGUE, TIME, THE WASHINGTON POST, THE TIMES (UK),...

The National English Honor Society has chosen Sing, Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward and Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro as the common reader texts for 2024-2025.

Then she was gone
Jewell, Lisa
Paper Book
INSTANT NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Nominated for a 2018 Goodreads Choice Award "An acutely observed family drama with bone-chilling suspense." --People "Jewell teases out her twisty plot at just the right pace, leaving...
Henna artist /
Joshi, Alka.
Paper Book
A NEW YORK TIMES BEST SELLER A REESE WITHERSPOON x HELLO SUNSHINE BOOK CLUB PICK "Captivated me from the first chapter to the final page."--Reese Witherspoon Vivid and compelling in its portrait of one woman's struggle...
Milk and honey /
Kaur, Rupi.
Paper Book
The book is divided into four chapters, and each chapter serves a different purpose. Deals with a different pain. Heals a different heartache. milk and honey takes readers through a journey of the most bitter moments in life and finds sweetness in them because there is sweetness...
The secret life of bees /
Kidd, Sue Monk.
Paper Book
The multi-million bestselling novel about a young girl's journey towards healing and the transforming power of love, from the award-winning author of The Invention of Wings and The Book of Longings Set in South Carolina in 1964, The Secret Life of Bees tells...

From the St. Joseph High School Summer Reading List.

Annie John /
Kincaid, Jamaica.
Paper Book
"Annie John "is a haunting and provocative story of a young girl growing up on the island of Antigua. A classic coming-of-age story in the tradition of "The Catcher in the Rye "and "A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man, "Kincaid's novel focuses on a universal, tragic, and often comic theme: the...
Shoe dog : a memoir by the creator of Nike /
Knight, Philip H., 1938-
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER In this candid and riveting memoir, for the first time ever, Nike founder and board chairman Phil Knight shares the inside story of the company's early days as an intrepid start-up and its evolution into one of the world's most iconic, game...
Dead wake :
Larson, Erik,
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * From the bestselling author and master of narrative nonfiction comes the enthralling story of the sinking of the Lusitania "Both terrifying and enthralling."--Entertainment Weekly"Thrilling, dramatic and powerful."...
Hidden figures :
Lee Shetterly, Margot.
Paper Book
The #1 New York Times bestseller -WINNER OF ANISFIELD-WOLF AWARD FOR NONFICTION -WINNER BLACK CAUCUS OF AMERICAN LIBRARY ASSOCIATION BEST NONFICTION BOOK -WINNER NAACP IMAGE AWARD BEST NONFICTION BOOK -WINNER NATIONAL ACADEMIES OF SCIENCES,...
The girl with seven names :
Lee, Hyeonseo,
Paper Book
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER An extraordinary insight into life under one of the world's most ruthless and secretive dictatorships - and the story of one woman's terrifying struggle to avoid capture/repatriation and guide her family to freedom. As a child growing...
Every falling star : [online electronic book] the true story of how I survived a
Lee, Sungju
Ebook
Every Falling Star, the first book to portray contemporary North Korea to a young audience, is the intense memoir of a North Korean boy named Sungju who is forced at age twelve to live on the streets and fend for himself. To survive, Sungju creates a gang and lives by thieving, fighting,...
The beekeeper of Aleppo.
Lefteri, Christy, 1980-
Paper Book
This unforgettable novel puts human faces on the Syrian war with the immigrant story of a beekeeper, his wife, and the triumph of spirit when the world becomes unrecognizable. "A beautifully crafted novel of international significance that has the capacity to have us open our...
The high mountains of Portugal.
Martel, Yann.
Paper Book
With this highly anticipated new novel, the author of the bestselling Life of Pi returns to the storytelling power and luminous wisdom of his master novel. The High Mountains of Portugal is a suspenseful, mesmerizing story of a great quest for meaning, told in three intersecting...
The color of water : a Black man's tribute to his white mother
McBride, James
Paper Book
From the bestselling author of Deacon King Kong and the National Book Award-winning The Good Lord Bird: The modern classic that spent more than two years on The New York Times bestseller list and that Oprah.com calls one of the best memoirs of a generation....

From the St. Joseph High School Summer Reading List.

A train in winter : an extraordinary story of women, friendship and survival in
Moorehead, Caroline
Paper Book
On an icy morning in Paris in January 1943, 230 French women resisters were rounded up from the Gestapo detention camps and sent on a train to Auschwitz--the only train, in the four years of German occupation, to take women of the Resistance to a death camp. The youngest was a schoolgirl of 15,...
Reading Lolita in Tehran : a memoir in books /
Nafisi, Azar
Paper Book
#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * We all have dreams--things we fantasize about doing and generally never get around to. This is the story of Azar Nafisi's dream and of the nightmare that made it come true. For two years before she left Iran in 1997, Nafisi gathered seven...
Enrique's journey : [online electronic book] the story of a boy's dangerous odys
Nazario, Sonia
Ebook
An astonishing story that puts a human face on the ongoing debate about immigration reform in the United States, now updated with a new Epilogue and Afterword, photos of Enrique and his family, an author interview, and more--the definitive edition of a classic of contemporary America ...
Things I learned from falling /
Nelson, C.
Paper Book
The gripping first-person account of one woman's survival in Joshua Tree National Park against the odds. "A vibrantly physical book"--The Guardian  *  "Uplifting and brave"--Stylist  *   "A riveting account of loneliness, anxiety and survival"-...
The things they carried.
O'Brien, Tim, 1946-
Paper Book

From the St. Joseph High School Summer Reading List.

The tiger's wife /
Obreht, TOea.
Paper Book
NATIONAL BOOK AWARD FINALIST * NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * "Spectacular . . . [Téa Obreht] spins a tale of such marvel and magic in a literary voice so enchanting that the mesmerized reader wants her never to stop."--Entertainment Weekly  Look...
Girls burn brighter /
Rao, Shobha.
Paper Book
Best Book of the Year:The Washington Post, NPR, Shelf Awareness, Paste, LitHub,Real Simple 2018 Goodreads Choice Awards Finalist: Best Fiction Longlisted for the 2018 Center for Fiction First Novel Prize "Incandescent...A searing...
Sarah's key /
Rosnay, Tatiana de,
Paper Book
Now a major motion picture! From beloved international sensation and #1 New York Times bestselling author Tatiana de Rosnay come's her celebrated novel Sarah's Key. Paris, July 1942: Sarah, a ten year-old girl, is brutally arrested with her family by...

From the St. Joseph High School Summer Reading List.

The god of small things.
Roy, Arundhati
Paper Book
The beloved debut novel about an affluent Indian family forever changed by one fateful day in 1969, from the author of The Ministry of Utmost Happiness NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER * MAN BOOKER PRIZE WINNER Compared favorably to the works...
The shadow of the wind.
Ruiz Zafon, Carlos, 1964-
Paper Book
"Anyone who enjoys novels that are scary, erotic, touching, tragic and thrilling should rush right out to the nearest bookstore and pick up The Shadow of the Wind. Really, you should." --Michael Dirda, The Washington Post "Wondrous...masterful...The ...
Snow flower and the secret fan.
See, Lisa
Paper Book
Lily is haunted by memories–of who she once was, and of a person, long gone, who defined her existence. She has nothing but time now, as she recounts the tale of Snow Flower, and asks the gods for forgiveness. In nineteenth-century China, when wives and daughters were foot-bound...
The bookseller of Kabul /
Seierstad, UAsne,
Paper Book
This phenomenal international bestseller is "an admirable, revealing portrait of daily life in a country that Washington claims to have liberated but does not begin to understand" (Washington Post). This mesmerizing portrait of a proud man...
Between shades of gray /
Sepetys, Ruta.
Paper Book
The inspiration for the major motion picture Ashes in the Snow! "Few books are beautifully written, fewer still are important; this novel is both." --The Washington Post From New York Times and international bestseller and Carnegie...
The Rosie project.
Simsion, Graeme C.
Paper Book
A Globe & Mail 100 Selection The feel-good hit of 2013, The Rosie Project is a classic screwball romance about a handsome but awkward genetics professor and the woman who is totally wrong for him A first-date dud, socially awkward and overly fond of quick-dry clothes, genetics...
The art of war.
Sun Tzu,
Paper Book
Like Machiavelli's The Prince and the Japanese Book of Five Rings, Sun Tzu's The Art of War is as timely for business people today as it was for military strategists in ancient China. Written in China more than 2,000 years ago, Sun Tzu's classic The Art of War is the first known study of the...
Drive your plow over the bones of the dead /
Tokarczuk, Olga,
Paper Book
WINNER OF THE NOBEL PRIZE IN LITERATURE New York Times Readers Pick: 100 Best Books of the 21st Century "A brilliant literary murder mystery." --Chicago Tribune "Extraordinary. Tokarczuk's novel is funny, vivid, dangerous, and disturbing...
Lemon Tree : An Arab, a Jew, and the Heart of the Middle East
Paper Book
A NATIONAL BOOK CRITICS CIRCLE AWARD FINALIST "Extraordinary ... A sweeping history of the Palestinian-Israeli conundrum ... Highly readable and evocative." - The Washington Post The tale of a simple act of faith between two young people, one...
Sing, unburied, sing /
Ward, Jesmyn.
Paper Book
*WINNER of the NATIONAL BOOK AWARD for FICTION *A TIME MAGAZINE BEST NOVEL OF THE YEAR and A NEW YORK TIMES TOP 10 OF 2017 *Finalist for the Kirkus Prize *Finalist for the Andrew Carnegie Medal *Finalist for the Aspen Words Literary Prize...

The National English Honor Society has chosen Sing, Unburied Sing by Jesmyn Ward and Klara and the Sun by Kazuo Ishiguro as the common reader texts for 2024-2025.

Educated : a memoir /
Westover, Tara
Paper Book
For readers of The Glass Castle and Wild, a stunning new memoir about family, loss and the struggle for a better future #1 International Bestseller Tara Westover was seventeen when she first set foot in a classroom. Instead of traditional lessons, she grew up learning...
The night trilogy :
Wiesel, Elie,
Paper Book
The new translation of the bestselling memoir Night in one volume with its companion novels, Dawn and Day Night is one of the masterpieces of Holocaust literature. First published in 1958, it is the autobiographical account of an adolescent...
I am Malala :
Yousafzai, Malala,
Paper Book
A MEMOIR BY THE YOUNGEST RECIPIENT OF THE NOBEL PEACE PRIZE As seen on Netflix with David Letterman "I come from a country that was created at midnight. When I almost died it was just after midday." When the Taliban took control of the Swat...

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